Does anyone else use AES3 on their K50 & if so, what cable do you use?

I was really hoping to find a deal on a pre-owned Sablon AES/EBU like the excellent pricing Agent86 enjoyed on his buy. Unfortunately for me, I just didn’t find any pre-owned Sablon AES/EBU ones being offered. I corresponded with Mark at Sablon on what his perceptions are regarding the $400 upgrade Bocchino platinum plated connector option vs his standard AES/EBU cable. His responses spoke about more evolved micro details / nuances / tonal structures and emotional connection–reminds me a bit of how Srajan at 6Moons :slightly_smiling_face: I asked him what server and DAC he is using for his evaluation. He has Aqua LineQ and Formula xHD. I am a fan of Christiaan Punter reviews at HFA, hifi-advice.com. He did reviews of the K50 and of the Tambaqui as well as the Aqua LineQ and Formula xHD, and from his reviews, there are several similarities to presentation of the K50 and the Mola-Mola DAC with those units. I went ahead and ordered the Sablon Bocchino option and have approximately 100 hours on it.

I actually find my take on the cable presentation similar to what Mark at Sablon indicated. The cable character, for me, settled in pretty quickly. The first few couple hours seemed lean to me but then bass became a bit dominant. By the 20 hour mark, it became, to me, quite balanced and that has maintained. It certainly has great resolution and detail, but also fine body weight with realistic vocal presentation and layers of musical presentation.

I have not listened to the other fine recommendations on this thread, including the non-Bocchino Sablon version, but I do very much like what I am getting with it. I have primarily listened using Roon but with some with Squeeze, as well. With this cable AES/EBU has become my favored output from the K50 to my Mola-Mola over USB (Triode Wire Labs and WW Platinum Starlight) and ethernet to Mola-Mola Roon Ready ( Audio Sensibility ethernet cable from PF Buffalo switch to K50 with Sablon 2020 USB from K50 Directstream port to MM).

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